Species data
Black Willow
Salix nigra - a hardwood from eastern United States. Also sold as willow, swamp willow.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 430 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,010,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.42 |
| Density | 26.2 lb/ft3 (420 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.18 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 8.7% tangential / 3.3% radial |
| Indicative price | $4.00 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Black Willow compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 10% of them, heavier than 12%, and stiffer than 2%. Soft enough to dent in service - worth knowing before using it for a worktop or a floor.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Black Willow it weighs about 11.6 lb. A stack of ten is 116 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Black Willow is about 35% as hard and 60% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 8.7% tangential against 3.3% radial, a ratio of 2.6 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one sits in that range.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Black Willow on hardness in this database: Eastern Cottonwood (430 lbf), Bigtooth Aspen (420 lbf), American Basswood (410 lbf), Noble Fir (410 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Low density and irregular grain machine poorly, raising fuzz and tearout; dries with many defects; steam-bends adequately; finishes and glues well
Durability. Non-durable to perishable; insects find it an easy target
Typical uses. baskets, crates, furniture, carving, utility wood.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE, SG (12% MC), Janka and shrinkage from The Wood Database (cites USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Uses, region, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Black Willow is not listed in the FPL/Hoadley dimensional change coefficient table (Popular Woodworking reproduction), so CT/CR are omitted. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.